Ranking the five best insert sets of the ultra-modern era

Yahoo

8 hours ago

Though the sports card hobby has recently been dominated by record sales for high-end patches and autographs, future collectors might look back on the ultra-modern era as a time when iconic inserts reimagined how cards are designed.
From old designs that were revived to fresh ideas that spawned a number of spinoffs, here are five inserts that have defined the era.
1. Kaboom
Considered arguably the most important insert of the ultra-modern era, no insert set has performed as well on the secondary market and influenced as many spin-offs as Kaboom.
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First designed for Panini's 2013-14 Innovation Basketball, the players were hand-drawn by illustrator Gyula Nemeth to resemble comic-book superheroes. The concept immediately captivated collectors and has since become one of the hobby's most coveted chases.
In addition to selling extremely well on the secondary market, the comic-style design has inspired a number of insert sets in the years since, including Manga, Presentations and Prizmania.
In 2025, the set made its debut in Revolution Basketball with the athletes again hand-drawn by Nemeth following an extended period with more photo-realistic player designs.
To date, the highest public record for any Kaboom card is the $225,000 paid in a private sale for a 2018 Panini LeBron James Kaboom Gold /10 BGS 9.5 in 2024.
2. Downtown
While insert sets such as Color Blast and Blank Slate thrive on simplicity, the iconic Downtown cards have been anything but.
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First introduced in 2016-17 Panini Studio Basketball as 'From Downtown,' the set has always featured backgrounds unique to the city of the featured player.
The set moved to Panini Cornerstones for 2017 before finally appearing in 2018 Optic Football. Downtown has been a beloved chase for the Optic brand since and is now highly coveted among football and basketball collectors.
Downtown will make its debut with the WNBA as part of 2025 Donruss WNBA.
According to public records, the highest sale for any Downtown card to date is the $108,000 paid for the 2020 Optic Joe Burrow Downtown Gold Vinyl 1/1 BGS 7.5 at Goldin in 2022.
3. Color Blast
Since debuting in 2019 Prizm Baseball, Color Blast has quickly become one of the standout chases from the era.
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The design is simple but effective, and features a basic player action shot over a colorful backdrop. The design of the blast itself varies from set to set.
In the years since its launch, Color Blast has expanded to feature more sports and more sets, and has now been spread across basketball, football and soccer as well as the Obsidian, Spectra and Select sets.
Originally featuring a white background, the Color Blast Black design debuted with 2023-24 Obsidian Basketball and has since expanded to Obsidian Football and Select WNBA.
The highest public sale for any card from the set is the $40,000 paid for a 2019-2020 Panini Spectra LeBron James Color Blast BGS 10 Black Label in 2020.
4. Stained Glass
Often associated with the Topps Gallery 'Gallery of Heroes' insert set, the stained glass design was revived during the ultra-modern era by Panini America for 2012-13 Innovation Basketball. Like its predecessor, the cards featured a transparent design and were created using acetate rather than the traditional paperstock.
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The set later earned more widespread appeal when it landed in 2019-20 Panini Mosaic Basketball with an updated design, and it has since thrived as part of multiple Prizm Football releases.
To date, the highest public sale for any Stained Glass insert, according to Card Ladder's records, is the $48,000 paid for the 2018 Prizm Josh Allen Stained Glass Black Finite 1/1 in 2024.
Overall, Card Ladder's records have tracked at least nine sales for Stained Glass cards of $20,000 or more and more than 50 sales of $10,000 or more.
5. Blank Slate
Sometimes simple is better, and Blank Slate has carried that theme since its introduction to the hobby in 2017-18 Panini Court Kings Basketball.
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The design is anchored by a simple action shot over a bare background. Blank Slate long featured exclusively a white background, but Panini later introduced black and gold backgrounds.
Though most associated with Court Kings Basketball, Blank Slate has expanded to reach the NFL and WNBA under the Origins brand.
One lesser-known fact about Blank Slate has been the card's long history of exceptionally high gem rates, possibly due to the card's textured surface and white background.
The card has been less likely to gem when featuring black and gold backgrounds.
According to Card Ladder, the highest public sale for a Blank Slate card to date is the $17,520 paid for a 2017 Court Kings LeBron James Blank Slate BGS 10 Black Label in 2025.
Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture. He was previously the Collectibles Editor at Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on X and Instagram @benmburrows.